Strange Occurrences
by A Furry Cat
Summary: Set after "Rumors of a Reaper", Claude finds a strange journal on the monastery grounds. Hilarity ensues.


Teach smiled. She actually smiled. Claude was beginning to worry she was inhuman after never seeing her smile for months. She always had that blank expression, but not last month. After rescuing Flayn, Teach smiled, albeit a small one, for the first time. It gave him a sense of relief. It assured him that however strange his professor may be, she is capable of showing emotion.

Now though, Claude can barely contain his laughter at what he found lying on the monastery's grounds: a journal written in Teach's handwriting. He read the cover before deciding to hold onto it until class the next day.

**A Journal of the Animals of Garrag Mach Monastery**

**Byleth, Professor at the Officer's Academy**

The first page had little doodles of cats, dogs, and birds. It was adorable; he had to admit. It was surprising, seeing this from Teach and not Marianne. He wouldn't have believed it if the front page hadn't said her name and had her handwriting. The monastery was dark, as night had fallen when he found the journal. Taking the journal with him, he returned to his room.

Lighting a candle at his desk by the window, Claude turned to the second page, eager to see what his Teach had written.

**Name: Snowy**

**Breed: a white cat**

**Sex: Male**

**4/24**

**This cat approached me. I do not understand why, but he rubbed against my legs. I pet him and he started purring.**

Little dates appeared on different lines, each with little notes about the cat. Claude continued reading the notes about "Snowy". What an original name for a white cat.

**5/3**

**Marianne explained that cats rub against legs when they like you. I began feeding Snowy some scraps.**

**5/10**

**He's blind.**

Claude turned the page. The next few pages were descriptions of various cats and dogs around the monastery whom Teach had somehow befriended within a month or two of moving in. After awhile, he found a few non-description entries which caused him to stop in his tracts.

**6/10**

**I think I need help. Many cats now wait for me to leave my room every morning for me to feed them. They are quite demanding. Almost as bad as my students.**

He had to grab his desk to keep himself from falling over in laughter. The mental image of his stone-faced teacher being exasperated by the animals was very amusing to see.

**5/12**

**I've decided to limit the number of times I feed the animals. They get some food from hunting the various pests around the monastery. I've been told they eat the scraps that get tossed from the dining hall, which was where I was getting mine.  
**

**6/16**

**It worked, but the animals still like me. I thought they only liked me for feeding them, but it appears to not be so. There must be something else.**

**I learned a lot about animals from Marianne. She has confidence issues, so I believe having her instruct me is helping her gain confidence. She is beginning to sound bolder and more confident when she speaks to me during our time with the animals.**

The journal was full of entries like these. Entries with descriptions of the various animals, reports on injured animals and their recovery process, and the occasional comment about Marianne's progress. It appears Teach is using their common enjoyment of animals to help Marianne, the shyest and most self-deprecating member of the Golden Deer house.

Claude had to see it for himself though. The cats and dogs especially liked Teach, for whatever reason. He had to see his stony-faced teacher cuddling with those animals. It would be the strangest sight and one he just had to see in order to believe.

The next morning, he managed to wake up early shortly before the sun started its ascent on the horizon. Leaving his room, he hid around the corner from the professor's bedroom, her journal in hand. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when Teach opened her bedroom door.

The professor, stony-faced as usual, went in the direction of the dining hall and gardens. Claude followed behind, using the shadows to keep himself hidden. The professor stopped by the hedges in the gardens by the dining hall. Sticking to the shadows, he saw Teach kneel by a hole in the hedge.

Suddenly, many small figures raced out of the hole and onto the professor's coat sleeves. Two of the figures were noticeably larger than the other four. There was also a large one. Squinting in the limited light from the rising sun, he made out the shapes of six kittens and what he presumed to be the mother.

Teach proceeded to use her coat sleeves as a toy, playing with the kittens as they pranced around; the professor occasionally stroking the mother cat who sat in the her lap. This was a very strange sight for the house leader. Sure, he read about it in the journal, but to see it in person. It was a sight to behold.

The smallest kitten jumped on the professor's arm and climbed her coat onto her shoulder. A strange sound came from the professor, one that shocked him almost as much her smile the previous month: a giggle. Her face lit up as she laughed at the kitten's antics. She actually laughed. He gasped so loud, he was sure he gave away his position, but Teach didn't react. He concluded that she either noticed and didn't want to scare the kittens, or she genuinely didn't notice. Probably the former, as he knows better than anyone just how perceptive she is.

The kittens played for a few minutes until they got tuckered out. The professor said her good-byes to the mother and the kittens as they went back into the hedge, presumably to sleep again. Teach stood up and looked in his direction.

"Claude, you can come out now," Teach said in a stern tone as she brushed the dirt and grass of her leggings.

Claude sighed as he came out of his hiding place. He responded with a smile, "Aw, you found me. I'd expect nothing less from you."

Giving him him a stern look, the professor asked, "Why were you following me?" She tapped her foot in annoyance, as this was far from the first time she had foiled his schemes.

"Oh, I just thought you'd want this back," Claude replied, holding out her journal, "and I was just so curious when I saw its cover. I just had to see if it was true."

Teach took back her journal, nodding at him as she responded, "Thank you for returning this. I was wondering where I lost it. I can assume you read its contents, seeing as you knew to follow me from my room at dawn." By this point, the sun was a little higher on the horizon, but many parts of this garden were covered in darkness by the larger buildings surrounding them.

"You know me so well, Teach. Seeing you play with those kittens was quite a surprising sight. Who would have thought the fearsome Byleth, child of the famous Captain Jeralt, could be taken down by such tiny kittens?" Claude teased, trying to get a reaction out of her.

It seemed to work, as the professor gave a small smile as she recalled what just happened. She responded, "Yes, you are correct. I often assist in caring for the stray animals here at the monastery here. They have taken a liking to me, for whatever reason."

The professor continued, narrowing her eyes and giving him a stern look, "I have to scold you for reading the journal beyond the cover page. It is a gross violation of privacy to read someone else's journal without permission."

Claude began to respond, but Teach interrupted him holding her hand up for him to stop talking, "However, it is partly my fault for losing the journal to begin with. I will let you off with a warning this time on the condition that you will speak of this to no one. Understand?"

He smiled and laughed, "Sure, Teach. Next time I have the insatiable urge to read someone else's journal, I'll be sure to ask first." He held out a hand, for her to shake, to finalize their agreement.

Teach gave him a small smile and shook his hand. Glancing at the rising sun, she spoke, "Well then, I would normally head to the dining hall around now for breakfast. Care to join me?"

"A meal with Teach, why would I refuse? Following you made me so hungry, I could eat a lion," Claude joked as he turned to head towards the dining hall.

"A lion? Don't let the Blue Lion students hear you say that," the professor replied in a near deadpan tone, almost concealing the chuckle in her voice, as she walked with him.

Claude stopped in his tracks as he gasped, "Wait… did you just joke?"

The professor shrugged and replied, "I'm hungry. Are you coming or not?"

When Teach first became the teacher of the Golden Deer house, she never expressed emotion. She always had that stern blank look on her face. It was difficult to read her. She smiled for the first time last month and now he's heard her laugh and even joke! Certainly, a strange turn of events. That professor is certainly a strange person, but it is comforting to see her expressing herself. She may be strange, but she is human.

Now to focus. The Battle of the Eagle and Lion is coming up. And as much as he hates to admit it, it will be a challenge.

* * *

**I don't own FE, 'kay?**

**Got the sudden inspiration to write this after seeing many images of Byleth playing with the various cats and dogs on the monastery grounds. I wrote this in approximately two hours when I should have been studying, ironically enough. This could easily become its own story with Byleth and Marianne, but I wanted to focus on Claude's reaction to this journal because I thought it would be funny.**

**Oh, and the two larger kittens were orphans, adopted by the mamma cat, if that wasn't obvious. I would say I watch too many kitten videos, but there is no such thing as too many kittens.**

**Tell me what you think!**


End file.
